WASHINGTON - JANUARY 19: San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom attends the Post Pre-Inaugural Ball hosted by The Huffington Post and MySpace at The Newseum on January 19, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Joe Kohen/Getty Images)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom used a clerical error to ensure that one of his major political donors would get a chance to build a taller condominium project than is otherwise allowed, members of the Board of Supervisors alleged Tuesday.

The clerical error, which boosted the allowed building height of a parcel on Mission Street to 85 feet among many blocks that are limited to a uniform 65 feet, stands to benefit restaurateur Gus Murad.

Murad, who owns a popular restaurant and lounge in the area, has submitted a proposal for the condo project at 2550 Mission on a site occupied by the shuttered New Mission Theater.

Over the past several years, Murad has contributed thousands of dollars to Newsom campaigns and ballot measures. He also sits on the city's Small Business Commission.

On Jan. 6, as part of a major rezoning effort, the board approved legislation limiting building heights on Mission Street to 65 feet. Prior to the vote, there had been discussions about giving an exception to the Murad project because it had been under city review before the zoning plan was finalized and would add needed housing and other community facilities to the neighborhood.

The board declined to make the exception, but a city planner who wrote the final legislation inadvertently inserted the 85 foot height for the Murad property. The board later approved another ordinance restoring the 65 foot limit. Newsom then vetoed that legislation, placing the Murad property back at the accidental 85-foot height.

Supervisor Chris Daly said at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday that Newsom's actions gave the appearance of, "impropriety and malfeasance."

"And here we are with four votes, a clerical error, and a mayor who has gained politically from the property owner," Daly said. "And that's how it's going to go down. This is disgusting."